Let's Get Ready to Ruuuuummmmbble!

It's official. Today is the first day of the 178th Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Or, more affectionately known around these parts as General Conference Smackdown. In the first corner we have two overtired and slightly frazzled parents, known as Mommy and Daddy. In the second corner we have 6 time, all around champion.....the slightly riled up Elliot (and his new accomplice Evie). Who do you think will win? Only time will tell! But my money is on the little ones.

There's always nap time. And Elliot DOES think that President Uchtdorf (or as he says, Prestident Ooofdorf) is pretty cool so maybe he'll listen some during his talk. It always works out somehow though, and no matter how little we do end up hearing, we will be spiritually fed and uplifted. I'm counting on it:) Plus, there's always the Ensign, right?

Thankful Thursday

Today, I'm thankful for trials. I know it sounds a little obscure but hear me out. Right now, one of my favorite people in the world is going through something difficult. Something that I never dreamed would happen to this person. Something I know he is hating right now. But also something I've been through myself.

At the time I could not figure out why this particular trial had entered my own life. But as time went on I was able to see some benefits. It put my life on a path that I otherwise wouldn't have taken. It made me stronger, more compassionate, and less judgmental. And now I see another purpose for this trial.....to be able to help this person through. I hope I can do that for him.

Oh, and just because I can't be all deep and thoughtful for too long (seriously, my head might explode) I am also thankful for the A1 Peppercorn Burger from Red Robin......and the leftovers that are in my fridge right now. It's delicious. A million times better than a Happy Meal cheeseburger. If you haven't had one, you need to. Right now. But keep your hands off my leftovers! ;)

My Secret Obsession

Well, it's not so secret anymore.....the cat's out of the bag. And apparently I am five years old because I MUST have all of the Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz dolls that you can get in a Happy Meal right now. I know I should be ashamed, but there it is. For the whole world to see. I've even resorted to eating Happy Meals myself since Elliot would MUCH rather have the Lego Batman toys. Blah! He's such a boy!

I didn't even know McDonald's had such cool toys. I found out while I was sitting and chatting with some friends outside while our kids played (outside time ROCKS...see what I would have missed out on if I kept my kids locked up inside all day!). I've already missed my chance of getting some of them, but I know better now. And trust me, against my better judgment as a mother we WILL be going to McDonald's again in a few days. And just in case anyone is worried, I am blushing while airing my dirty laundry like this ;) BUT, Elliot's nutritionist would be proud.....they tell me to give him as many calories as I can right?

I tell people that I want them for Evie. But anyone with higher than a third grade education could see right through that. I mean, come on, she's 9 months old! Yeah, maybe sometime she will actually play with and appreciate them, but for now they just become a big slobbery mess when she plays with them.

I can't help myself, they are so darn cute! You should go get a Happy Meal and see for yourself!!

I Messed Up

And forgot about thankful Thursday. Oh well, I guess I'll have thankful Sunday instead :)

1. All of your blogs. I love keeping up with all the blogs that I've found. It is so nice to hear how everyone is doing and to see fun pictures. Especially those that are far away or those we don't get to see very often. Plus, when you keep up on the blogs, sometimes you learn about really cool things. Like if ColdStone was having a free ice cream night!

2. Girls Night Out This is a time when I can step away from my responsibilities and feel footloose and fancy free. I pretty much got two of these nights this week. One was Tuesday night when I hit up the Cheesecake Factory and the So You Think You Can Dance tour with my Mom and sister. It was way fun and I got my cheesecake all to myself for once. The other was technically a girls night in (and husbands and kids were allowed to tag along). The girls from my district in the MTC came over for dinner and we had a really nice time chatting. It was soo good to see you Rhonda, Amy, and Terra!!

3. Brent's good taste in music (with a few suggestions thrown in from Ashley too). While Brent is away on his mission, he is kindly allowing me to babysit his ipod. I'm not allowed to take anything off but I can add however much more to it that I want. But he pretty much has it covered. He's got everything from Rachmaninoff to Killer Tofu by the Beets (anyone remember Doug?). I love it, and I'll be sad to give it back.

4. Three beautiful little letters D V R. Yep, that's right, I said it. It may sound a little silly but there are many reasons I love this invention. I can watch some of my favorite shows (which usually fall right in the middle of bed time) when it is convenient for ME. Plus, then I don't have to watch commercials. AND when Elliot spends a day sick, not wanting to do anything but watch "Bineas and Berb" there are pleanty of episodes saved up to keep him happy......not that that happened or anything.

5. And on a more serious note, Prayer. And having good friends and family around that not only pray for you, but are also there to point out when your prayers are answered. We've had many, many prayers answered here and have witnessed more than our fair share of miracles. And for that I am truly grateful.

School Troubles

Don't worry, Elliot's not failing out of preschool or anything like that. Actually, he's doing quite well. He's just started getting nervous about going.

The first week of school was just like dropping him off at nursery...

me: "come give me a kiss so I can go"
Elliot: *completely surprised that I'm even still there*

This kid really couldn't care less if I drop him of at nursery. He would go by himself if I would let him. It looked like school was going to be the same way. Until last week.

Last Monday we got up and got ready for school. All the while, Elliot would say, "you're gonna come lif me right?" . I would assure him that I was. But when we got there, he wouldn't leave my side. And he got his really pouty, starting to tear up look. He kept rubbing his eyes like he was going to cry. So I closed the door and decided to stay for a few minutes.

He ran off to join the other kids in their morning songs. He would smile and do the actions. So I would think he was fine and inch toward the door. BUT then he would turn around, get all pouty again and say "don't leave, stay lif me" and start crying. So I would step away from the door and he would join back in with the songs. This went on about four or five times when I finally got up the nerve, booked it for the door, didn't look back, and made my escape.

Unfortunately, the door squeeks.

And with the window open, I could easily hear the sobs that followed. "I...want.....my......MOMMY!!!" It triggered a ripple effect, and next thing I new there were at least 5 other kids just as noisily realizing that their mommies weren't there either. I felt guilty but I made a run for it.

Luckily, his teacher has 20 years experience with this sort of thing and assured me that he was just fine when I picked him up a couple hours later. But this one "fluke" day has started a trend. The days since HAVE been better but he still doesn't want me to leave.

In fact, this morning, he had to talk himself into it.

me: "Elliot, we're going to school.....it's going to be so FUN!"
Elliot: "yay! hahaha"
me: "Arent' you so excited?"
Elliot: "yep! we're gonna see my school friends and sing songs"
me: "Yes! It's going to be SO FUN!!!"
Elliot: *giggles*

----long pause------

Elliot (to himself): "School not a bad place......school a happy place"

Gah! It just kills me! I just want to save him from all the things that make him sad or uncomfortable. But I know that's not my job as a mommy. And I know he has a blast once he settles in for the day. Plus it's only two hours. Right?

Thank goodness Friday is field trip day and I'm already going on that anyway!

My Little Dare Devil

I wish I had pictures or a video of this, but I swear it's true even though it seems unbelievable. Especially to me! Yesterday, out of nowhere it seems, Evie climbed up TWO stairs!! They were actually two CEMENT steps...... outside. What is she trying to do, give her mommy a heart attack?

Elliot wanted to play outside, and there were some kids out in Magah's neighborhood. So we went out there. He ran around while I sat in front of my mom's neighbor's house. Evie was in my lap for most of the time. She started squirming though, and really wanted to check out the grass, so I let her down. The next thing I know, she was standing on one step and almost halfway up the other! Yikes! She's only 8 months old! I'm not ready for this!!

Elliot was 18 months before he ever attempted stairs. And our friend Christine taught him how to go up the stairs.....he wasn't even interested on his own. But I can already tell she's more adventurous than him anyway.


Looks like we better find the gate ;)

Thankful Thursday

I've seen this on a couple of other blogs I've been reading lately. And though I swear I haven't uttered the words "but Mom, ALL my friends are doing it" in at least ten years, I decided that it would be cool to follow the crowd just this once :) Especially since I believe more blessings come to those with gratitude in their hearts and I have been a little less than grateful today.

So here goes nothing......

1. A Wonderful Husband- who also happens to be a great daddy. Most days, especially the ones that are rough for me, he comes home and really takes charge with the kids. He gives them lots of attention, plays with them, helps tremendously with bed time, and even *gasp* changes diapers. Plus, he knows exactly what will cheer me up......I think tonight alone he has offered me a new shirt, a new pair of shoes, and some ice cream (none of which I accepted, but the night is still young and I can't pass up ice cream for very long).

2. The Children's Place footy-pajamas. These jammies are A-MAZ-ING. For a girl like me that has two kids with very different bodies, it is great to be able to go into one store and buy something that fits both of them. Elliot is a little longer but very skinny and these jammies don't drown him. Evie definitely has a little more pudge to her, and even though she fills them out more than her brother, she doesn't look like she's wearing spandex.

3. Bedtime. Now I know a lot of us crave bedtime because that is the time of day where we can finally find a moment alone, but that's not the reason I'm putting it on my thankful list. I chose to add this because it's the time of day when all the frustration from earlier seems to just melt away. I can share a quiet moment with my family reading a story and having some chocolate milk, and then I can see the good things our kids are learning especially as Elliot can say more and more of a full prayer every night. And then, of course, there are the hugs and kisses. And the "I love you Mommy"s.

4. My cell phone. It has some really cool features on it, like internet acces and GPS, and I was able to use it to help someone today. He was looking for a street. I didn't know where it was, so I thought I would look it up on my handy dandy phone. Unfortunately, there were some minor technical difficulties (read "I don't know how to work the fancy schmancy stuff"). BUT luckily, I was able to use the phone they way they did in the olden days, rely on good ol' number one again (my wonderful husband) and get the guy where he needed to go. And now I'll learn to work all that other stuff.

5. Ice cream. My mantra really is that ice cream makes everything better. And don't even try to tell me you're too full......because there is ALWAYS room for ice cream. If I'm not careful this will end up on my list every week.....in fact, ice cream is sounding pretty good right now. I think I ought to go ask BJ if his earlier offer still stands :)

How about you? What are you thankful for today?

Why is it...

that when I go out for a little retail therapy, I come home with absolutely nothing for myself?

Sweet Baby Girl

I spend a lot of time talking about Elliot on this blog because he's so darn funny and he's always doing SOMETHING that needs to be told. But we do have another child that we absolutely adore....and it's only fair that she should get some blog time too!

Evie seems to be growing up before my very eyes. I can't believe how fast she's doing everything. She's been crawling for months now and has been able to pull herself to standing for a few weeks now (she did it for the first time on August 28th...at only seven months old!). And she started cruising the furniture the next day. I'm sure she'll be walking before we know it!

It's funny, the other night we were watching an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place (why we don't turn away from the Disney Channel after the kids go to bed is beyond me...) . It's the episode where the mother wants to throw a Quinceanera (which from what I understand is a kind of "rite of passage" celebration similar to a Bar or Bat Mitzvah) for the 15 year old daughter, Alex. It's a pretty cheesy show, but cute. And I was enjoying it. Anyway, they show some of the different rituals that can take place: trading out a flat shoe for one with high heels, a toast, and the father daughter dance. When they show they father-daughter dance, the dad in the show starts to cry. And pretty soon I started hearing some different sniffles. Sure enough, I turned around, and it was my husband! He was tearing up a little saying how that will be our little girl some day.

Now even though we won't have a Quinceanera, because it's not part of our culture, you better believe that the day will come when our little Evie will want to trade her flats for high heels and will prefer lip gloss over Barbies.......BUT we aren't even to the Barbie stage yet, so it will be at least a little bit. I can't believe how sappy these men get over their little girls. It WAS kind of cute though.

And he is right, they DO grow up too fast.

A Funny Little Conversation with Elliot

Well, the other day Elliot was looking at some pictures on the wall at Magah's house. He saw one of my senior pictures (yeah from a million years ago) and said "it's mommy and her stick". So we told him, "no, that's a flute.....mommy plays the flute". And then we went down the list of other family members and the instruments they play. He was really interested and, as I found out today, really payed attention......for the most part. So we had a little chat when he was looking at the same picture today. Here's the conversation....

Elliot: Look there's Mommy! Mommy plays the flute!
Mommy: That's right Elliot! Good job! What instrument does Daddy play?

Elliot: Daddy plays the clarinet!
Mommy: Yes he does! What about Uncle Brent?

*long pause*

Mommy: Does Brent play the piano?
Elliot: Yes! Brent plays the piano!!

Mommy: What about Papa?
Elliot: Papa plays the trumpet!

Mommy: Yes he does! What about Aunt Ashley?
Elliot: *thinking*.....ummmmmmmm...........Ashley plays the Jonas Brothers!!

After a minute or two of laughing we were able to tell him that yes, Ashley listens to the Jonas Brothers a LOT, but she also plays the violin. You sure can't tell me he doesn't pay attention!

Family Home Evening

Tonight we decided it would be fun to go out and do something for FHE. So we hit up the farm at Thanksgiving Point. It wasn't very expensive to get in and Elliot had a blast running around to all the animals. They have horses, cows, ducks, chickens (he was convinced Super Chicken was there for any of you that might remember that cartoon....Papa has showed him episodes on YouTube) goats, ponies, turkeys, geese, and I'm sure some others that I'm missing. It was so fun and Magah even helped him feed some of the animals.

When we were done, it was time for mommy's favorite part....the treat! They have a cute little deli and ice cream shop and Thanksgiving Point also. We got an amazing banana split to share. I swear it was at least half as big as Elliot's head! What do you think?


All in all, it was a really fun night! If you're looking for a fun family evening out, I would highly recommend it!

Is my child the only one....

that would seriously rather eat a tuna sandwich than a brownie? Where did he come from....Mars?!

I asked him if he wanted a brownie after lunch and he said yes. I put it on the table before he had finished his sandwich. He looked at it for a while. Then he took a little taste. Then he picked off all the frosting (note to self: No frosting on brownies for Elliot). He took a bite. He broke it up into little pieces making it undesirable to myself. And then he pushed it aside and devoured the rest of the tuna.

What's with that? He must get it from his father :)